Trump's Tariffs Have Made A Mess Of Alpine's U.S. Sports Car Plans
Renault's announcement that it was going to bring its French sports car brand, Alpine, to the U.S. by 2027 caused a great deal of excitement for the automotive community. Now, all of our hopes and dreams are being put on hold because of President Trump's tariff mess. The French automaker says the U.S. introduction of Alpine will likely be delayed because of the uncertainty around the duties.
Renault says it has been in talks with dealership group AutoNation to distribute Alpines in the U.S. Currently, the niche company makes just two vehicles: the A110 sports car and the recently introduced A290 eclectic hatchback. It plans on building larger vehicles for North America, according to Bloomberg. However, all of that is up in the air now because Trump had to be a GD goober.
Alpine's U.S. expansion was a crucial component of the automaker's plan to build the company's revenue to over $9.1 billion by the end of the 2020s. Even before the tariff fiasco, it would have been a tall order. It sold just 4,585 vehicles last year across the globe. To add insult to injury, Renault has decided to shelve some smaller projects it had planned in an effort to cut costs as the global trade war rages on.
Who else is impacted
Renault and Alpine are not the only companies to have their plans upended by Trump's tariffs. We just told you about how Buick's entire future has been put in jeopardy because three of the four vehicles it sells are built in China and South Korea. The Chinese-made Envision especially is vulnerable to tariffs.
We've also told you about how Infiniti, Jaguar-Land Rover and Audi are slowing down exports to the U.S, the fact Mitsubishi has stopped shipments to dealers and how automakers like Ford and General Motors may raise prices across the board to make up for extra tariff costs. Of course, there have already been widespread layoffs at companies like Mack Trucks, and those are expected to continue.
All of this means that not only is Trump messing with people's livelihoods, but he's also messing with our ability to get quirky little French performance cars, and that simply will not stand!